IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon awarded the elite Egoz unit a medal yesterday, in recognition of their efforts in the four-and-a-half year Oslo War. Yaalon praised their determination and fighting skills in the ongoing war against the Palestinian Authority terrorist factions based in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.
Yaalon cited, in particular, the unit’s high success rate in thwarting terrorist operations.
Egoz fighters are on the frontline 24/7 protecting Jews from the hundreds of suicide bombers emerging from the ranks of the Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Al Aksa Brigades, and other terrorist factions.
A typical Egoz operation occurs in the dark, early hours before dawn - prime time for terrorist fugitives, when most Jews in Israel are fast asleep. Guided by expert intelligence, Egoz soldiers often locate terrorists on their way to attacks. A gun battle typically ensues, after the terrorists - generally - refuse the chance of surrendering. In most cases, the terrorists are gunned down, thus saving innocent lives.
Such activity, as well as complex operations to hunt down and capture terrorists, repeated night after night since October 2000, has won them the praise of the Chief of Staff.
Maj. Shuki, an Egoz officer, told Arutz-7 about some of the challenges the unit is facing. “From year to year, the enemy is becoming better skilled and better able to understand our methods of operation,” he said. “As a result, we are required to raise the level of operational planning, and change our methods. Commanders are required to apply more creativity to operations."
The officer added that while the intensity of Egoz operations is very high, the unit has also maintained a high success rate to match the heavy investment in time and sweat. This is one of the reasons why the Chief of Staff singled them out for the award.
Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler reports that at the same ceremony honoring Egoz, the Chief of Staff honored a civilian unit in Kiryat Arba. The unit received an award for its role in fighting the Arab terror gang that killed 12 soldiers on the route to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron two and a half years ago.
The award was accepted by Rivka Bonish, whose husband, Yitzhak Bonish, was killed in the ambush attack.
Yaalon cited, in particular, the unit’s high success rate in thwarting terrorist operations.
Egoz fighters are on the frontline 24/7 protecting Jews from the hundreds of suicide bombers emerging from the ranks of the Islamic Jihad, Hamas, Al Aksa Brigades, and other terrorist factions.
A typical Egoz operation occurs in the dark, early hours before dawn - prime time for terrorist fugitives, when most Jews in Israel are fast asleep. Guided by expert intelligence, Egoz soldiers often locate terrorists on their way to attacks. A gun battle typically ensues, after the terrorists - generally - refuse the chance of surrendering. In most cases, the terrorists are gunned down, thus saving innocent lives.
Such activity, as well as complex operations to hunt down and capture terrorists, repeated night after night since October 2000, has won them the praise of the Chief of Staff.
Maj. Shuki, an Egoz officer, told Arutz-7 about some of the challenges the unit is facing. “From year to year, the enemy is becoming better skilled and better able to understand our methods of operation,” he said. “As a result, we are required to raise the level of operational planning, and change our methods. Commanders are required to apply more creativity to operations."
The officer added that while the intensity of Egoz operations is very high, the unit has also maintained a high success rate to match the heavy investment in time and sweat. This is one of the reasons why the Chief of Staff singled them out for the award.
Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler reports that at the same ceremony honoring Egoz, the Chief of Staff honored a civilian unit in Kiryat Arba. The unit received an award for its role in fighting the Arab terror gang that killed 12 soldiers on the route to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron two and a half years ago.
The award was accepted by Rivka Bonish, whose husband, Yitzhak Bonish, was killed in the ambush attack.